News Releases 2011

LETU Spins Off Prosthetic Knee Technology to LIMBS International

Thu, Jul 7 2011

LeTourneau University announces that the LEGS M-1 knee, developed at LETU to provide low-cost, durable prosthetics for amputees in developing countries, has been acquired by LIMBS International, an independent nonprofit organization.

“Thousands of amputees in developing nations could today benefit from this technology and LIMBS has the potential of reaching them more quickly ” said LETU President Dr. Dale A. Lunsford. “We are excited that something invented by LETU students and faculty can change the lives of people worldwide.”

The M-1 knee originated seven years ago as part of a student engineering design project in the LETU School of Engineering and Engineering Technology. The program has successfully field-tested prosthetics with amputees in Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh.

“The university’s work to create unique learning opportunities that meet global needs and bring glory to God is just beginning,” Lunsford said. LeTourneau Empowering Global Solutions (LEGS) is expanding to include a number of research and ministry projects that give students out-of-classroom opportunities to employ their education and to empower them to solve global problems in developing nations. Recent projects include improving wheelchair performance for disabled children in Kenya, developing a small-plot irrigation system for small farms in Senegal, providing Bible translation in Nigeria and studying visual literacy in Kenya.

Additional information on LIMBS can be found at http://www.limbsinternational.org.